Great white shark terrorizes Australian beach

The dangerous presence of a five- meter white shark has forced authorities to close beaches around Newcastle on the east coast of Australia, for almost a week after it has continued to hunt near coastal waters.

A sighting of the shark on Wednesday prompted council authorities to keep swimming beaches closed to the public for a sixth consecutive day, Fairfax Media reported on Thursday.

Lifeguards said a massive shark of this size, weighing about 1, 700 km, "had never been seen before around Newcastle".

"It is not safe for board riders to be out in the water, even close to shore, as sharks are known to move into the surf zone, hunting prey between where the surf breaks and the shoreline," Newcastle council said.

Newcastle council said it was "unusual for a shark to stay around the same coastal areas for this many days in a row" and that beaches would only be reopened after a 24-hour period of no sightings.

"We ask for everyone's cooperation in remaining out of the water at our beaches until lifeguards are satisfied that the shark has moved out of area waters," the council said. Endi